Pompeo says US-DPRK talks on war remains result 'in firm commitments'

WASHINGTON - The high-level talks held between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) representatives on Sunday at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed in the Korean War "resulted in firm commitments," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

It was the first General Officer-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang since 2009, which "were productive and cooperative and resulted in firm commitments," said Pompeo in a statement released later on Sunday.

The two sides agreed to restart field operations in the DPRK to search for the estimated 5,300 Americans missing from the 1950-1953 Korean war, the top US diplomat said.

Meanwhile, the working level meetings between the US and the DPRK officials will begin on Monday to coordinate the next steps, including the transfer of the remains already collected in the DPRK, according to the statement.

The statement did not specify on the number of the remains that have been collected.

As an outcome of the US-DPRK leaders' Singapore summit in mid-June, Pyongyang and Washington agreed to commit to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action during the Korean War, including an immediate repatriation of those already identified.